In domestic and commercial food preparation, flat sheet pans or trays are commonly used to prepare and serve food items. It is advantageous for food preparers and caterers to be able to stack multiple pans and trays within an oven or cooling area so as to heat/cool more food within a given time period. Tiered stacking of pans and trays also maximizes the use of space during handling, transport and storage of prepared foods.
While several different stackable tray systems appear in the patent literature, these systems depend upon the use of specially designed trays having cooperating projections, ledges and/or flanges. Therefore, there is an unmet need for a system of tiered stacking that can be used with any kind of flat pan or tray.